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Bender

Bought mine from American Bender. Never sorry I did. But it needed to work out of the box. Built the pedestal and mounting plate prior to it getting here. Then just punched the mounting holes trough after it arrived.

Their machine is hydraulic capable and the whole thing dies included for several sizes of pipe and one made special for small radius bends on stainless steel tube only cost about 1200. Paid for itself first job out as we bent a rail for a 60 foot yacht. Well worth the price and the folks at American Bender were easy to work with.

While Shop Outfitters has a nice universal bender, I would be looking to see whether they accepted Hossfeld dies sets. Also, looking at the Hossfeld or American bender would be an option as they would surely accept Hossfeld dies. If you are going to go the route of a universal bender, you may as well have a bender that uses the widest variety of dies on the market. To call any other bender not using the Hossfeld dies 'universal' would be stretching the truth. While anyone can call their product universal, only Hossfeld backs it up with their die inventory. Once again, decide on what you really want to do as the investment in die sets will keep you loyal to your product afterwards. That said, if you are only looking to do tube bending, Hossfeld would be well down the list for my choice as a bender, but as a universal bender it would be first in line.

How much did it cost you, including parts, to build??? DId you build it without using a lathe, or mill???

It cost around $450 with the pump and die. The die was $230 and the pump was $90. The material I purchased from a local steel supplier and have some left over. All the holes were drilled using a small Jet mill/drill, but laid out with a tape measure. My old craftmans drill press wobbles too much. A drill press will work fine. I do have a lathe and had some round stock laying around, I turned down to make the pins. These pins you can purchase from Tractor Supply, I think I might have saved $25-$30 bucks. I kept the project simple, I didn't have the material and drills too drill much over 1", so I decided not to make the bushings. You can make this no problem with out a mill or lathe. I do have a horizontal bandsaw which made cutting the material easy as its 1/4,1/2 and 5/8 thick.

It cost around $450 with the pump and die. The die was $230 and the pump was $90. The material I purchased from a local steel supplier and have some left over. All the holes were drilled using a small Jet mill/drill, but laid out with a tape measure. My old craftmans drill press wobbles too much. A drill press will work fine. I do have a lathe and had some round stock laying around, I turned down to make the pins. These pins you can purchase from Tractor Supply, I think I might have saved $25-$30 bucks. I kept the project simple, I didn't have the material and drills too drill much over 1", so I decided not to make the bushings. You can make this no problem with out a mill or lathe. I do have a horizontal bandsaw which made cutting the material easy as its 1/4,1/2 and 5/8 thick.

That is some great feedback.. I got a good guy that gets me steel for a steal. haha.. I think I might attempt to build one.